The Lautoka High Court

A 66-year-old man who made promises to find employment for four Bangladesh nationals eight years ago has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment by the Lautoka High Court.

Govind Reddy was convicted of four counts of trafficking in persons and obtaining financial advantage.

The court heard that Reddy operated Blue Pacific Travel agency in Nadi in 2014 and met the four complainants in Bangladesh at the material time.

Reddy had promised to find employment for the men in Australia and had also obtained over $100,000 from them.

The four complainants arrived in Fiji in 2015 and during the trial informed the court that they were exploited by Reddy upon arrival.

The High Court Judge said Reddy planned and executed the crime in a very sophisticated manner and due to his actions the four were stranded in Fiji for three years.

The Judge also said that the offending caused enormous psychological trauma to the four complainants.

The High Court Judge also noted that in December 2019, Reddy was mistakenly released from the remand center and he had been absconding from this case until a bench warrant was issued in March 2022.

Reddy has been sentenced to eight years imprisonment with a non-parole period of six years however after considering the time spent in remand, he has to serve six-years behind bars with a non-parole period of four years.